Home > Press > The European Parliament has funded a study on interactions between new technologies and the job market; flexicurity and training/vocational training.

Abstract:
EU - Report on the impact of new technologies

The European Parliament has funded a study on interactions between new technologies and the job market; flexicurity and training/vocational training.

Europe | Posted on March 13th, 2008

The report intends to provide a conceptual framework for the interaction between new technologies and job markets. Technologies which are considered as 'future technologies' in academic and public debates are analysed, such as, Information and Communication Technologies (IT), Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and Converging Technologies. Except for IT, these technologies represent the most intensive research and development sectors, which have experienced the highest growth rate since the 1990s. For the nearest future, the demand for a highly qualified labour force is expected to be predominantly in these technological fields. Information technologies, however, play a central role when reflecting the change of work patterns and organisation in the last decades. Especially with regard to changes in work organisation, IT may be considered as crucial for the restructuring of global value chains and for changes in global working patterns.

Thus, the policy recommendations of this report are oriented mainly towards the specific situation of the creation of knowledge-based economies in Europe. The complexity of these processes implies that the impact of technologies on labour markets and the labour force varies among different branches, sectors and institutional settings. The authors conclusde that "Political programmes enhancing the 'employability' of workers, therefore, should take into account a wide range of social risks, but also should offer a wide range of possibilities to integrate workers into working processes."

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About European Agency for Safety and Health at WorkWorkers and employers need to be made aware of the risks that they face, and how to manage them. But health and safety bodies in the individual EU Member States cannot do this alone.

That is why the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up, in 1996.